Largest recent impact craters on Mars: Orbital imaging and surface seismic co-investigation
L. V. Posiolova, Philippe Lognonné, W. B. Banerdt, John Clinton, G. S. Collins, Taïchi Kawamura, Savas Ceylan, I. J. Daubar, Benjamin Fernando, M. Froment, Domenico Giardini, M. C. Malin, Katarina Miljković, Simon C. Stähler, Zongbo Xu, M. E. Banks, É. Beucler, B. A. Cantor, Constantinos Charalambous, Nikolaj Dahmen, Paul M. Davis, M. Drilleau, C. M. Dundas, Cecilia Durán, F. Euchner, R. García, M. P. Golombek, Anna Horleston, C. Keegan, Amir Khan, Doyeon Kim, Carène Larmat, R. D. Lorenz, Ludovic Margerin, Sabrina Ménina, M. P. Panning, Constanza Pardo, Clément Perrin, W. T. Pike, Matthieu Plasman, A. Rajšić, Lucie Rolland, Esteban Rougier, Gunnar Speth, Aymeric Spiga, Alexander Stott, D. Susko, N. A. Teanby, A. Valeh, Alyssa Werynski, Natalia Wójcicka, Géraldine Zenhäusern
Abstract
Two >130-meter-diameter impact craters formed on Mars during the later half of 2021. These are the two largest fresh impact craters discovered by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter since operations started 16 years ago. The impacts created two of the largest seismic events (magnitudes greater than 4) recorded by InSight during its 3-year mission. The combination of orbital imagery and seismic ground motion enables the investigation of subsurface and atmospheric energy partitioning of the impact process on a planet with a thin atmosphere and the first direct test of martian deep-interior seismic models with known event distances. The impact at 35°N excavated blocks of water ice, which is the lowest latitude at which ice has been directly observed on Mars.